Solo whist rules

Whist where partnerships are temporary and usually you are on your own. Four players, thirteen cards each, dealt in batches of three with a final single card.

Trumps

The dealer's last card is turned face up and its suit is provisional trump. Whether it stays trump depends on the bid.

The bids, lowest to highest

Proposal and acceptance — you offer to partner whoever accepts, and the two of you undertake to take eight of the thirteen tricks with the turned suit as trump. Solo — alone, five tricks, turned suit as trump. Misère — alone, no tricks at all, no trump. Abundance — alone, nine tricks, in a trump suit of your choosing, named only after the bidding closes. Open misère — alone, no tricks, and your hand laid face up on the table after the first trick. Abundance declared — alone, all thirteen tricks, no trump, and you lead.

Each bid must be higher than the last. Three passes end the auction.

The bidding starts to the dealer's left. A proposal that nobody accepts and nobody overcalls is a hand that is thrown in, and the deal moves on.

The play

Normally the player to the dealer's left leads, except in abundance declared. Follow suit if you can, otherwise anything. Highest trump wins, otherwise highest card of the suit led.

Two contracts end early, because there is nothing left to play for: a misère is lost the moment its bidder takes a trick, and an abundance declared the moment its bidder loses one.

Scoring

Settled in chips at a fixed rate per bid, rising steeply with the contract. Everyone pays the successful bidder, or is paid by the failed one, so three defenders each settle separately — which is why a failed abundance is expensive.

A common scale is two units for a proposal or a solo, three for a misère, four for an abundance, six for an open misère and eight for an abundance declared. At a proposal the two partners settle with the two defenders, so each of the four payments is the same size.

An example

You bid a solo and take six tricks. The contract needed five, so each of the other three pays you the solo rate. Take four and you pay each of them the same.

Playing well

Five tricks alone is less than it sounds: with a long trump suit and one outside ace it is a sober bid. A misère is the opposite — one low card in a long suit is what makes it safe, and a bare queen is what loses it.